Shalom all,

Israel Update – Day 21 of the War.It’s Friday night and Shabbat has already begun. So, this will be short.
The IDF entered the Gaza Strip for the second day in a row began a heavy artillery barrage on Gaza. According to the IDF Spokesman, this was done in order to “meet the objectives of the war.” He also revealed that a Hamas command center is located under the Shifa Hospital, which is the largest hospital in Gaza City. The command center and control room, which are accessible through underground tunnels, are “heavily staffed by armed forces”. It was further revealed that another command center is actually located inside the hospital, which is used, among other things, to launch missiles at Israeli communities. Clearly, these are violations of international law and should be prosecuted as war crimes. But, the big question is “who is going to prosecute the leaders of Hamas for war crimes”, when there is a growing sympathy for “Palestinian” casualties?

Rockets landed in and around the Tel Aviv area, together with the coastal cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod. There were injuries reported, as well as property damage.

Push is coming to shove, as it is becoming increasingly clear that Israel needs to make a decision which way it is going to continue in the conduct of the war. On the one hand, there are those who want to delay the full ground offensive, to allow more time to negotiate for the release of some of the hostages. Other members of the War Cabinet want to pursue the ground operation, to place additional pressure on Hamas, which might help to improve Israel’s negotiating position.

I fully understand and appreciate the desire to have the hostages, all of the hostages, released. But, the likelihood that all of the hostages will be released is nil. Yesterday, the Hamas spokesman indicated that approximately 50 hostages have already died as a result of the IDF bombardment of the Gaza Strip. If they’re dead, it’s because they were killed by Hamas or put in harm’s way intentionally. No names, no ages, no identification of male or female, civilian or military, Israeli or foreign citizen. I don’t believe anything that Hamas has to say and it should be obvious that they are using the negotiations to extend time to gain media support for the civilian casualties in Gaza. The constant shift in Hamas’s position in the negotiations also indicates that even if hostages will be released (they should really by considered prisoners of war), they may be foreign citizens first and may include women and children. After them, other Israeli civilians and finally, if they are still alive, Israeli soldiers, male and female. We are bombing the daylights out of Gaza and Hamas is still calling the shots in the “negotiations”. There is something wrong here. Extended “negotiations”, without pursuing the ground offensive, will cause great damage from a number of perspectives – military, morale, public pressure, media pressure, international pressure, economics and politics (just to name a few). It’s time to decide, not to sit on the wall.

Much can be said about the atrocities that were committed by the terrorists on Black Saturday, 7th October. A viewing of some of the videos taken by Hamas operatives themselves, in real time, should convince anyone and everyone of what – not who – we are dealing with. The images seen on those videos will cause some to break down emotionally. Others will not be able to get those scenes out of their minds. I was asked by a long-time friend whether I saw some of the videos, because he was having a difficult time believing what he heard. I told him that I did and that he should be thankful that he didn’t see them.

A perspective of the difference between a Hamas terrorist and an IDF soldier appeared in a cartoon, in Hebrew, which has been reported on various social media here. It is attached. On the left is a Hamas terrorist calling his father and saying to him: “Daddy, I killed ten people.” The other photo shows a member of the IDF calling his mother and saying to her: “Mom, I saved ten people.” That’s it in a nutshell, the difference between those who have an ideology and philosophy of death and those who have an ideology and philosophy of life. “L’Chaim”!!! To life!!! We lift a glass and toast to it, we sing about it, we proclaim it and pursue it in all of its aspects, because it is a gift to be cherished.

There’s more that happened today. But, the best thing that I can report is that both of our sons were granted 24 hours leave from their units and came home for Shabbat. Our older son came home early in the afternoon, in uniform and with his weapon. His younger brother came home 3 hours later, also in uniform and with his weapon. This is how they greeted each other.

Shabbat Shalom,
Bless, be blessed and be a blessing.
Marvin